I was out in mine today, early, on Wheeler Branch before the rain came in. I need to take some photos of it and post them and will do so soon as I continue to add various modifications.

It is a Meyers Sportspal S-15, 15'3" in length, square stern, 38 inches wide at the gunwales but 44" to the outside of the ethafoam sponsons, sort of a canoe collar.

I fish standing up in the canoe most the time, wind or waves don't make much difference; it is very stable. I have a Minn Kota Traxxis 55 lbs. thrust trolling motor that currently mounts to the canoe's square stern and it runs off of an Optima D27 battery. I use it less and less frequently and prefer to use a 280 cm. double bladed paddle for moving around. I will make a side mount for the trolling motor as this would put it in a better position for me to use it. But, it is just so much easier not to load up a 54 lbs. battery and I guess another 25 or so pounds of trolling motor.

Today was my first time out with a newly added padded bass seat. It is mounted on a stainless steel swivel, this tightened down on the mid-ships factory bench seat. Now, I can stand but sit down at times, too, for a time or to tie on a new lure. The seat height is better; the bench seats were a bit low for me.

I have a 12' fiberglass push pole with an adjustment to 8' that Rick at Angler's built for me. I can use it as a stake-out pole, that is once I get some sort of hardware to anchor it to.

And, finally, I have an anchor trolley mounted off to one side for positioning the anchor toward the bow or stern.

The boat is long enough so that it fishes well with two large men. Its stated capacity is 705 lbs. and it is rated for a 5 hp outboard. If I get an outboard, likely will at some point, I think a 2 or 2.5 would be all that is needed.

Sounds like a good set up brad. I did have my seat on a small swivel base mounted directly to the canoe seat and worked great but then I got the idea to make a 3 inch riser to mount to the swivel base. Took it out last night to try it out and the riser made a world of difference. Now I can go from sitting to standing no problem. I normally stand and fish from mine when I'm out alone. The wife and kids don't care for it when I do it with them in the boat. Mine is also rated for a 5hp motor aswell and I would like to see how it would scoot with that on there. Maybe some day tho. Those motors aren't in my price range right now. I will stick with my little 30# trolling motor. I need to put a anchor trolley on this like you have. I have one on my kayak and I love it . I would like to upgrade that tho to like a 50# here soon. I love my canoe. I have a trailer i built for it so all I have to do is hook up and go. My rod/cup holder I added have also been a awesome attachment. Great for just casting out the line and just sitting and waiting for a cat to come along.

I stand some with others in the boat but it is harder to predict their motions, especially if they are jerky and don't sit relatively still. But, yes, you have to get the thighs at roughly parallel to the floor so you can stand easily, sit back down easily too. If you are too deep, it is harder to pop up smoothly. I don't want, nor do I need, a stand up bar.

On motors, there is a huge "diminishing return" on added horsepower. A canoe can often achieve 80% of its top end speed at about 40% throttle, so I'd think the 2 or 2.5 hp outboards would be the way to go, even smaller for some older models still out there on the used market, and only then if you need to cover lots of water to cross really big lakes.

Most of the kayakers, me too in my canoe, cover a whole lot of the perimeter of Wheeler Branch's 180 acres without breaking a sweat.

In retrospect, I might pass on a roughly 25 lbs. of weight trolling motor and a 54 lbs. battery. That is a lot of weight to load and unload, and just use paddles preferring the 280 cm double bladed paddle to really cover ground and fight head winds, then have a 30 lbs. Honda or Suzuki outboard (that is about what the 2/2.5s weigh) for those times if I wanted to have a whole lot of "get home" power or cover lots of ground, or get back up river.